Saturday, April 11, 2009

Friday, April 10, 2009

Babs in front of their house Eric, Diane & Maggie

Nelson working up the mast

Friday April 10, 2009Hello Everyone,I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to get started back on my blog. I have only the excuse that I have been too lazy to take the time to sit down long enough to get started.We returned to Cape Coral on Tuesday, March 31 after spending one night in Jacksonville with Loretta and Mac, Nelson’s sister and her husband. We stayed in Cape Coral until Thursday, April 9th. We had a man from the Universal Engines Shop out of Fort Myers meet us at the boat Wed., Apr. 1 to go over our engine and make sure it was functioning properly. He had to replace a solenoid which was necessary but we can’t really tell anything different about the way the boat runs. It is just a slow boat. But, we are retired and in no hurry. And that’s a good thing as every boat we travel with always goes faster than us. Nelson had many projects to complete before we made our return trip back to NC. He changed the oil and filters, changed the transmission fluid, cleaned the raw water filter, added stainless steel side rails on either side of the dodger, built a shelf to a cabinet where I store my food and, he and I washed the boat outside and inside. More like spring cleaning. I wish I could get him to help me do this in the house. We also filled fuel and water tanks for the trip across Lake Okeechobee.We enjoyed our stay with Ike and Babs. They were much help in getting us places to re supply our food and other things we needed to replace on the boat. The best was that Babs cooked us so many delicious meals and we both think we gained extra pounds while there. Also, their son, Eric and daughter in law, Diane fed us at their house. We had a delicious Mexican meal with them. We went out for seafood one night and the night before we left, we had the best baby back ribs from a place called, Rib City. A big “thank you” Ike and Babs for letting us keep our boat at your dock from March 12- April 9. It saved us a lot of money and it was great getting to spend the time with you while we were there. We have loved getting to see more of Loretta and Mac in their home in Jacksonville and Ike and Babs in Cape Coral. We will stop in Jacksonville one more time before leaving Florida.When we left Ike and Bab’s house, we had to go back under the electric wire again to get out of the main canal to their house. Ike drove his car to where the power lines were and watched from under the wire to make sure we could get back under it. Yes, we did it again, but it was still very scary. We were glad to be back out into the big water again.Our first day, we went up north through the Caloosahatchee River and docked for the night at a Regional Park off the River. A nice dock and it was free! We left early Fridaymorning and spent the night in Clewiston, Florida at the Roland and Martin Marina. There were mostly fishermen there as this is the place where they have the large mouth bass tournaments. They had a tiki bar which played music until 1:00 in the morning and also a café where we enjoyed a nice fish sandwich and cheese/steak sandwich. The music did not keep us from sleeping as we were both sound asleep by 10:30. We went through two locks and one raised our boat 10 feet. It was not difficult but very interesting seeing the water rising so quickly. They opened the west side gates and the water was half way up to the top of the door and came rushing in. It was a quick process and very organized. Thank goodness! While there, we met a nice couple who were also going the next morning across Lake Okeechobee in their 36 foot sailboat. We decided to cross the lake together leaving at 7:30 am.